Trudy H.
Fort Wayne Indiana
Retinal Dystrophy
I still remember the last time I was able to pass a vision test to obtain a driver’s license. Because I was only in my 30’s the license branch employee believed me 
when I said, “I must not be able to see all the letters clearly because of my new glasses.” That visit was the last time I received a regular operator’s license. It also made reality set in. “I’m never going to be able to drive again.”
As a sales manager of a local radio station how would I continue to work and keep my career when it depended on driving all day? How was I going to take my infant daughter to the doctor when she needed check-ups? The questions of how and why occupied my thoughts daily. As a patient of Low Vision Centers of Indiana I was able to find the answers I needed and wanted to hear.
Dr. Windsor introduced me to bioptic driving. As a very independent person, the hardest part about becoming a bioptic driver was the on hands training with a driving instructor. Imagine going back to high school drivers training when an instructor watched your every move. During the whole driving experience with my bioptics, I was always self-conscious. Had I changed lanes properly, and was I using the bioptics properly? If I didn’t do everything exactly would the trainer keep me from driving? I knew though, that in order to be the kind of active mom, and career-oriented person I wanted to be, I had to stick with the training and ignore the nervous thoughts going through my head.
It’s been ten years since I became a bioptic driver, and I am happy to say that I drive my teenage daughter back and forth to all of her activities. I drive myself to work each day, to the school where I am now a teacher. I even drove through Atlanta, Georgia during a traffic jam over spring break.
While the glasses aren’t attractive, I can’t imagine how different my life would be without them. When people stare at my bioptics, I just drop my head and pretend to take a picture of them. They quickly look away!!!